What’s new in recent Windows 10 updates

New features in recent Windows updates will help you customize your PC, increase security, and get more creative with Windows 10. With these updates, it’ll also be easier to get things done on your PC and across your other devices, including syncing to Android phones (7.0 or later).

Choose your favorite color mode

Make your apps and app tiles stand out by switching to Light or Dark mode. Select Start > Settings > Personalization > Colors . Under Choose your color, select either Light or Dark mode.

Keep tabs on your website tabs

When you’re on a frequently-used website and have a lot of tabs open, pin that site to your taskbar. Then, just hover over the pin to see a preview of all the open tabs.

To pin website to the taskbar, in Microsoft Edge, go to Settings and more > More tools > Pin to taskbar .

Quickly jump between open webpages with Alt + Tab

Select the Alt key and tap Tab to toggle through all the apps and items you have open, including website tabs in Microsoft Edge.

Go passwordless with Microsoft accounts on your device

Keep your device even more secure by removing passwords when signing in to Windows with Microsoft accounts on your device. Go to Start > Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options , and then turn on Require Windows Hello sign-in for Microsoft accounts.

Have Magnifier read text aloud

Magnifier, the screen-magnifying feature that comes with Windows 10, can also read text aloud. To use it, turn on Magnifier by pressing the Windows logo key‌ + Plus sign (+), select Read from here, then use your mouse pointer to select where you’d like to begin.

Make your text cursor easier to find

The text cursor indicator adds a splash of color to your text cursor, making it easier to find in a sea of text. To turn it on and change its size and color, go to Start > Settings > Ease of Access > Text cursor.

Create events quickly

Add an event or reminder to your calendar right from the taskbar. On the taskbar, select the date and time, then enter your details in the text box that says Add an event or reminder.

Get to notification settings from the taskbar

To choose where notifications show up and how to sort them, select Notifications > Manage notifications on the taskbar.

Add emoji from your keyboard

Express yourself however and wherever you want. Press the Windows logo key + period (.) to open an emoji panel. Use kaomojis to create faces with text, and symbols—like punctuation and currency—to make a statement.

Bring the Microsoft experience to your Android phone

Open the Google Play Store app on your Android phone, type Microsoft Launcher in the search box, and then install it. Once Microsoft Launcher is installed, you can get beautiful Bing wallpapers that refresh daily, sync your Office docs and calendar, and more.

Make your pointer easier to see

If you’re having trouble spotting your pointer on your screen, make it bigger or change the color. Select Start > Settings > Ease of Access > Cursor & pointer.

Make things on your screen larger

To make just the text on your screen bigger, select Start > Settings > Ease of Access > Display , then adjust the slider under Make text bigger. To make everything bigger, choose an option from the drop-down menu under Make everything bigger.

Use Snip & Sketch to capture, mark up, and share images

Screen sketch is now called Snip & Sketch. Open Snip & Sketch to take a snip of what’s on your screen or to mark up and share a previous image. In the search box on the taskbar, type Snip & Sketch, then select Snip & Sketch from the list of results to open the app.

To quickly take a snip, press the Windows logo key + Shift+ S. You’ll see your screen darken and your cursor displayed as a cross. Choose a point at the edge of the area you want to copy and left-click the cursor. Move your cursor to highlight the area you want to capture. The area you capture will appear on your screen.

The image you snipped is saved to your clipboard, ready for pasting into an email or document. If you want to edit the image, select the notification that appears after you’ve made your snip. Snip & Sketch offers options to save, copy, or share and includes a pen, highlighter, and an eraser, all with variable line widths.

Related links

For more info about Windows updates, see Windows Update: FAQ.

For info about activating Windows 10, see Activate Windows 10.

Windows 10 update history

Windows 10, version 1909 and Windows Server, version 1909

Updates for Windows 10, version 1909 and Windows Server, version 1909

Windows 10 is a service, which means it gets better through periodic software updates.

The great news is you usually don’t have to do anything! If you have enabled automatic updates, new updates will automatically download and install whenever they’re available, so you don’t have to think about it.

On the left side of this page, you’ll find a list of all the updates released for this version of Windows. You can also find more information about releases and any known issues. Installing the most recent update ensures that you also get any previous updates you might have missed, including any important security fixes.

For more information about the update and how to get it, see:

What’s new for Windows 10, version 1909 and Windows 10, version 1903 release notes

Windows 10, versions 1903 and 1909 share a common core operating system and an identical set of system files. As a result, the new features in Windows 10, version 1909 were included in the recent monthly quality update for Windows 10, version 1903 (released October 8, 2019), but are currently in a dormant state. These new features will remain dormant until they are turned on using an enablement package, which is a small, quick-to-install “master switch” that simply activates the Windows 10, version 1909 features.

To reflect this change, the release notes for Windows 10, version 1903 and Windows 10, version 1909 will share an update history page. Each release page will contain a list of addressed issues for both 1903 and 1909 versions. Note that the 1909 version will always contain the fixes for 1903; however, 1903 will not contain the fixes for 1909. This page will provide you with the build numbers for both 1909 and 1903 versions so that it will be easier for support to assist you if you encounter issues.

For more details about the enablement package and how to get the feature update, see the Windows 10, version 1909 delivery options blog.

Current status of Windows 10, version 1909 and Windows Server, version 1909

For the most up-to-date information about Known Issues for Windows and Windows Server, please go to the Windows release health dashboard.

Notes and messages

General

IMPORTANT Release notes are changing! To learn about the new URL, metadata updates, and more, see What’s next for Windows release notes.

IMPORTANT Starting in July 2020, we will resume non-security releases for Windows 10 and Windows Server, version 1809 and later. There is no change to the cumulative monthly security updates (also referred to as the «B» release or Update Tuesday release). For more information, see the blog post Resuming optional Windows 10 and Windows Server non-security monthly updates.

IMPORTANT Starting in July 2020, all Windows Updates will disable the RemoteFX vGPU feature because of a security vulnerability. For more information about the vulnerability, seeCVE-2020-1036 and KB4570006. After you install this update, attempts to start virtual machines (VM) that have RemoteFX vGPU enabled will fail, and messages such as the following will appear:

If you re-enable RemoteFX vGPU, a message similar to the following will appear:

“The virtual machine cannot be started because all the RemoteFX-capable GPUs are disabled in Hyper-V Manager.”

“The virtual machine cannot be started because the server has insufficient GPU resources.”

«We no longer support the RemoteFX 3D video adapter. If you are still using this adapter, you may become vulnerable to security risk. Learn more (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2131976)”

What’s new for Windows 10, version 1909 and Windows 10, version 1903 release notes

Windows 10, versions 1903 and 1909 share a common core operating system and an identical set of system files. As a result, the new features in Windows 10, version 1909 were included in the recent monthly quality update for Windows 10, version 1903 (released October 8, 2019), but are currently in a dormant state. These new features will remain dormant until they are turned on using an enablement package, which is a small, quick-to-install “master switch” that simply activates the Windows 10, version 1909 features.

To reflect this change, the release notes for Windows 10, version 1903 and Windows 10, version 1909 will share an update history page. Each release page will contain a list of addressed issues for both 1903 and 1909 versions. Note that the 1909 version will always contain the fixes for 1903; however, 1903 will not contain the fixes for 1909. This page will provide you with the build numbers for both 1909 and 1903 versions so that it will be easier for support to assist you if you encounter issues.

For more details about the enablement package and how to get the feature update, see the Windows 10, version 1909 delivery options blog.

Troubleshooting

If you have questions or need help activating or troubleshooting Windows, see our help topics below:

For information about how to update, see Update Windows 10.

If you have questions about manually installing or removing an update, see Windows Update: FAQ.

Getting an error message when updating? See Troubleshoot problems updating Windows 10.

If you need to activate Windows, see Activation in Windows 10. If you’re having trouble with activation, see Get help with Windows activation errors.

To get the latest major update to Windows 10, see Get the Windows 10 November 2019 Update.

Microsoft’s next major Windows 10 update focuses on improving remote work

Microsoft breaks from tradition to deliver a different kind of Windows update

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The next major update to Windows 10, version 21H1, will be delivered in the first half of 2021 and focuses on improving remote work scenarios. Microsoft traditionally delivers two major Windows updates per year, with most of the bigger features dropping in the spring and a smaller update in the fall. While IT admins are used to this approach, Microsoft appears to be reversing this cadence for 2021.

“Windows 10, version 21H1 will have a scoped set of features improving security, remote access and quality,” explains John Cable, Microsoft’s head of Windows Servicing and Delivery. “The features we are releasing in this update are focused on the core experiences that customers have told us they’re relying on most right now.” These improvements will include:

• Windows Hello multicamera support to set the default as the external camera when both external and internal Windows Hello cameras are present.
• Windows Defender Application Guard performance improvements including optimizing document opening scenario times.
• Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) Group Policy Service (GPSVC) updating performance improvement to support remote work scenarios.

Logitech’s Brio webcam will work better on devices with built-in Windows Hello cameras soon. Image: Logitech

The Windows camera changes mean you’ll soon be able to plug in an external Windows Hello camera and get the benefits of facial detection on a laptop that already has a Windows Hello camera built in. Currently, Windows doesn’t support this scenario well, and it means cameras like Logitech’s Brio do not work correctly with devices like Microsoft’s Surface range that also have Windows Hello cameras.

Microsoft’s other improvements for this 21H1 version are clearly designed for IT admins to improve support for remote working. This includes improving document opening times for Microsoft’s built-in anti-virus software, and performance improvements for the management and configuration side of Windows.

This 21H1 update will also install very quickly, much like a monthly cumulative updates to Windows. Microsoft has started testing this 21H1 update with beta testers today, and it’s planning to make it available to all Windows 10 users “later in the first half of this calendar year.”

Microsoft is also expected to deliver a larger Windows 10 update later in 2021. The company is planning a “sweeping visual rejuvenation of Windows,” which is codenamed Sun Valley. Microsoft is planning to detail its next big changes to Windows at a special event in the coming months.